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French attacking against Millikin Oct. 4, 2024
Kodiak Creative
3
Winner Ill. Wesleyan IWU 15-5,6-0 CCIW
2
North Central (IL) NCC 15-6,3-2 CCIW
Winner
Ill. Wesleyan IWU
15-5,6-0 CCIW
3
Final
2
North Central (IL) NCC
15-6,3-2 CCIW
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Ill. Wesleyan IWU 25 16 25 15 15 (3)
North Central (IL) NCC 23 25 20 25 11 (2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Women’s Volleyball Escapes Victorious at NCC

Titans stay unbeaten in CCIW action

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Needing the full five sets to do so, the Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball team escaped with the win over North Central College Wednesday night, Oct. 16. The win extends IWU's win streak to eight, remaining perfect in the month of October, and boosting its record to 15-5 overall, 6-0 in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin action. NCC falls to 15-6 and 3-2 in league play.

The Titans saw the advantage in kills (62-47) but were held to a .098 attack percentage, while North Central finished with a .162 clip. Illinois Wesleyan held leads in digs (114-108), assists (61-47), and aces (11-8), while losing the upperhand in blocks (7-6).

The IWU offense saw junior Taylor French (Romeoville, Ill.-Plainfield East) lead the match with 22 kills and a career-high seven aces. Fellow junior Hannah Tellor (Metamora, Ill.-Metamora Township) compiled 12 kills, while freshman Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles East) added 11. Sophomore Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and fifth-year Jordan Pierce (Bonfield, Ill.-Herscher) recorded 27 and 23 assists to lead the team, respectively. 

On the defensive end, junior Kannyn Boyd (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.-Mt. Pleasant) led the Green and White with 27 digs. French finished with 19 to notch another double-double performance, while Bardouniotis recorded the first of her career, finishing with a career-best 15 digs. Senior Morgan Harrington (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) totaled a team-high three blocks, followed by Tellor with two. 

Feeney fed Bardouniotis to open the set in favor of the visitors, 1-0. Tellor notched a kill, and French tooled a block a few points later to level the set at four apiece. 

Bardouniotis reeled in an ace and French followed with a kill to force NCC to call its first timeout with the score at 13-8 in favor of the Titans. The break in the action did little to stop the Green and White, as French laced another kill to keep the visitors rolling.

After a Cardinals one dissolved the lead, Tellor evened the score at 21 all with back-to-back kills. French roped a dish from Feeney, and sophomore Cailin Shannon (Bloomingdale, Ill.-Lake Park) stuffed a Cardinal attack to set up set point, 24-22. Down to its last resort for the set, North Central called its final timeout to try to ice the Titans. A block kept the set alive out of the break, but an NCC miscue finished set one in favor of IWU, 25-23.

Dropping the second set, 25-16, Illinois Wesleyan responded in the third. French opened by tooling a block via a pass from Pierce. Harrington tooled one of her own, and French aced the Cardinals to give the Green and White a slim 3-2 advantage.

French sparked a 7-1 run for the Titans with a kill, a run in which she would register three kills. The run also saw her and Pierce post aces, and a Bardouniotis kill to help up the score to 16-10. 

After NCC rattled off four straight to cut the advantage to two, head coach Kim Nelson-Brown burned a timeout to settle her team. The break proved to work for IWU, as Harrington and Tellor cake out with back-to-back kills to bring the cushion back to four. Illinois Wesleyan would hold on from there, as French crushed a ball from Feeney, and Pierce posted an ace to lock the third set 25-20. 

IWU fell 25-15 in the fourth set to send the match to a fifth. French opened with a kill, and Bardouniotis used a smart tool to give the Titans a 3-1 advantage early on. 

Tellor registered a critical kill and followed by teamming up with Harrington for a block to give the visitors a 13-11 lead, ensuing a Cardinals timeout. 

Tellor struck a kill to put the Titans at match point, and French finalized the win with her seventh ace of the night, as the Green and White took the final set 15-11.

IWU returns home to host University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Friday night, Oct. 18. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the Shirk Center and will serve as Campers Night and Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
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